Nelida Andres: Doing Whatever It Takes

September 25, 2024
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Nelida worked in business after coming to the U.S. from Spain at age 24. “I had earned a degree in computers in Madrid and spent a few years working for the chief economist at the Latin American and Caribbean division of the World Bank,” Nelida recalls. Then her world changed after she got married and had two children. “I wanted to stay home with my kids when they were young,” she says. “Then, when they went to school, I wanted to have a grownup life, so I began teaching Spanish part time at Montgomery College before getting a job on the noncredit side of the early childhood education department at the college.” In the 20 years since then, Nelida has moved forward in her career to become the department’s program director on the noncredit side.

“We provide workforce development through classes that are valid toward your license as a child care provider and qualify you to work in a child care center,” Nelida explains. And she has a lot of input on the courses that the department provides. “I research trends in the early childhood education field and try to come up with new classes every semester. I hire all the teachers, and I work with other institutions to get grants. In recent years, for example, we received a grant from PNC Bank to support students in earning their Child Development Associate® (CDA) Credential™,” Nelida says. And the CDA®, offered in both Spanish and English, is now a pathway to higher education at the college. That’s thanks to the work Nelida did with Dr. Sonia Pruneda-Hernandez, then the college’s senior director of early childhood education programs and now its director of curriculum innovation and alternative pathways.

“Three years ago, the CDA wasn’t a formal pathway to higher education at Montgomery College,” Nelida recalls, “but Sonia and I convinced the curriculum committee to count the credential for six credits toward an associate degree. That encouraged a lot of CDA students to continue with their education, and it was just one of the many projects Sonia and I did while working as a dream team to help students advance. For example, we also organized an early childhood education hub, where we brought in different speakers who gave students tips on teaching and advice on reaching their goals.”

Nelida also gives the students a lot of personal support and her background in computers comes in handy. “Much of our program is hybrid or remote,” she says, “so my program coordinator and I hold informational meetings to show students how to get into their account at the college and how to upload their homework. Technology is a challenge for some of the students,” she adds. So is the system at the college since many of the students who Nelida serves come from different countries, many of them Spanish speaking. “The educational system in the U.S. is quite different,” she says, “so you might need to explain some basic things to students like the difference between credit and noncredit programs and how to sign up for classes.”

Nelida also urges students to continue their education after the CDA and recently received a thank you from a Spanish-speaking student who she had encouraged to earn her associate degree. “The language barrier had discouraged her,” Nelida recalls, “but I told her, you’re smart, you can do it. And she did. She’s now completing the last class for her degree. And Hispanic educators like her are important because they make our many Hispanic children feel more comfortable in the classroom. It also helps the families to see a Hispanic teacher. They’re more willing to come to the classroom and some even consider embarking on a career in early learning themselves.”

That begins with the right training, so Nelida works with other organizations, like the Latino Child Care Association of Maryland (LCAM) to support people in earning their CDA. “We offer classes and meeting space to LCAM’s members. We write letters of recommendation for LCAM when they apply for a grant. And our two organizations are now thinking about doing a conference together in Spanish.”

LCAM puts a focus on the mechanics of opening a child care business, and it’s a topic on which Nelida is well versed. So, she guides students on the requirements they need to meet and she’s now working with an organization called Montgomery Moving Forward to simplify the steps needed to obtain a license. “When the providers get their license,” she says, “they can look forward to having a nice standard of living. Some of them also go on to advance their education, like Maria, a Montgomery College student who began on the noncredit side and opened a family child care. She went on to earn her master’s degree and taught at the college for a while before going on to work for Montgomery County.”

Maria had studied engineering in Argentina, and she’s among the many educated students who Nelida has served. “One of our students was a lawyer in her country. Others have been accountants. Then they come to a new country, need to find their niche and reinvent themselves. It starts by learning to speak English,” Nelida points out. “This has allowed the students to breeze through an associate degree, earn a bachelor’s degree in early education and build rewarding careers in a whole new field.” Their progress, she says, “shows that you’ll have far more opportunities if you learn the language of the country where you live.”

So, Nelida encourages all her Spanish-speaking early childhood students to also expand their language skills. “I put it in business terms by telling students they’ll get more clients if they can communicate in both English and Spanish,” Nelida says. And she also uses the language of business to describe her work. “Montgomery College students are my clients and I’m here to serve them,” Nelida says. But her reward isn’t just the salary that she receives. “When I get phone calls from students telling me they’ve found great jobs, I feel good that I’ve made someone’s life better. So, I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help our students move forward in their careers.”

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